Electric switch



Dec. 3s 1929. H. H. OETJEN ,737,767

. ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed Jap. 8, 1929 In man-af.

Patented Dece 3, i929 entre graff-,f

HOWARD UETJEN, OF OHICAGO, LLNOS, ASSGNOR TO CHECAGO ELECTRIC MANU- FACTURING CO., OF CHCAGO, JILLENOS, A C0RPOlEMiLllFONy OF ILLNOS ELECTRIC SVllTCH Application led January 8, 1929. Serial No. SSLMG.

My invention relates to electric switches in which the circuit is controlled by the slidable movement of a switching member, and particularly to the class of electric switches in which the switching member moves back and forth parallel to the front of the switch, such switches being commonly employed on flashlights and -also for controlling cowl lamps in automobiles.

ln its general objects, my invention aims to provide an unusually inexpensive and easily assembled switch of this class which will insure good electrical connections and which will have a positive snap-over action, and' one in which no current is carried by any flexible or resilient elements.

More particularly, my invention aims to provide a switch in which the sliding member includes an insulating body intercposed between a contact plate and a spring member, and in which both the contact plate and spring member intert the insulating body so as to be slidably attached to the latter without requiring auxiliary' fastening elei ments. Furthermore, my invention provides a switch construction in which a simple metal punching affords a spring member serving both for pressing the contact plate against the terminals of the switch; and in .l which this spring member cooperates with formations on a stationary part of the switch (such as the switch front) to impart a throw over movement to the sliding member,y and to latch the latter in\either the on or the od position of the switch. My invention also aims to provide a compact sliding button type of switch designed to aord ample room for a considerable and unrestricted flexing of the spring member.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a front view of a switch embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, taken from the right hand of Fig. l. Y

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

'Fig l is a central and longitudinal section, taken along the line 1 4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a top view of the slide assembly, and Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the same.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the spring member of the switch.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the contact member.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the insulating member of the slide. l0 is an enlarged perspective view of the metal frame member of the switch, which member includes the front plate.

Fig. l1 is an enlarged section taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 3. i

In its immediate commercial application, the switch of my invention is particularly suited for use as a cowl-lamp control switch. adapted to have all `eXcept its front plate disposed in a recess bored in the door frame of an automobile, so as to require no casing for confining the. switclrparts either laterally or from their rear. Hence l-am illustrating and describing my switch in an embodiment suitable for that purpose, although ll do not wish to be limited in this respect.

lin the illustrated switch, the terminals comprise two freelyspaced terminal brackets l and 2, each carrying a wire-clamping screw 3. Each of these terminal brackets is secured to the back of an insulating switch base 4 by a rivet 5 which has its head projecting slightly forward beyond the switch base 4, and each of the heads desirably having its forward face slightly convened.

rllhe insulating base 4f of the switch also has two perforations 26 for receiving rear end fingers 7 respectively carried by two flat and counterpart wings 8, which wings extend rearwardly at right angles to the metal front plate 9 with which they are integral.

The wings 8 are wider than the diameters of the perforations 6 so as to present rear shoulders abutting against the forward face of the base 4'; and the extreme tips of the lingers 7 are clinched. over the rear of this base, thereby holding the said base rigidly spaced and parallelto the front plate 9. This front plate 9 has a central aperof the slideb ture 11 and along a line centrally transverse of this aperture the front plate hastwo depressions affording humps 31 directed toward the insulating base 4 of the switch.

Projecting forwardly through the aperture 11. in the front late is a stem 12 which is fast 'uponI and esirably lintegral with the insulating body 13 of the sliding member or slide assembly of the switch, this slide bodyf 13 being longer and wider than the button stem but shorter than the aperture 11 in the'switch front. The'slide'body also is considerably thinner than the distance between' the front plate 9 'and the forward contact faces of the terminal rivets 5; thereby allowing space for a Contact plate 14 interposed between the back of'the slide body 'and the terminals '5, and also for a spring member 15 interposed between the.

front plate 9 and the forward faceportions ody. The contact plate 14 is desirably a metal plate bearing flatwise against the bottom of a recess 1n the rear face of the slide body 13,

and this plate forms the main portion of a movable contact member which also includes an end finger 14A turned up forwardly for .engaging one end of the slide body and an opposite end finger 14B extending into a recess 16 in the slide body. The spring member ofthe switch comprises a metal frame having each longitudinalv frame side provided with a forwardly directed hump 15 and havingA 1 each frame end 17 turned rearwardly and engagingone end of the slide body, each hump 15.beingvso positioned that Vit'will ride over one of the rearwardly directed humps 31 on the front'plate of the switch whenthe sliding member is moved from one to the other lof the two extreme positions respectively shown in Fig. 3 and in Fig. 4. The bore-of the frame of the spring member desirably ap'- proximates the width of the stem-12 (or actuating portion) of the slide member, so that the side walls of the stem will engage the longitudinal walls of the said bore-to pre-. vent thesprin member from sliding laterally of the insu ating body.v y

The rear face portion of the slide body against which the contact plate 14 bears is offset forwardly from .the end portion 18 of the same face `by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the contact plate, so that this face V,portion 1 8 is in the same plane with the lower face of the Contact plate. To prevent al movement of the contact member von the insulating body' transversely of the direction 'in'l which the latter slides, I preferably make both the contact plate and the said 0E- set rear face portion of the insulating body narrowerfthan the insulating body, thereby leaving the contact plateclaterally housed by a recess which extends tothe end' of the insulating bod adjacent tothe finger 14A and from whic into the recess 16 opens.

The various switch partsl are so propori tioned that when the sliding member is in its f ward the right from its position inFig. 3, the

humps 31 on the front plate flex the longitudinal sides of the spring member downwardly (orrearwardlyofthe switch) until the forward spring humps 15 ride over the said front plate humps 31, after which a similar cam action insures a completion of the sliding movement, so asl to halt the sliding member when the right-hand end of the stem 12 engages the right-hand end of the perforation 11 inf the front plate. lThis leaves the sliding member in the off position shown in Fig. 4, in which the contact plate 14 engages onlyI one of the terminals 6 'while the other terminal' engages the rear (or lower in Fig. 4) end face portion 18 of the insulating slide body.

To allow for a conslderable rearward. flexing of the longitudinal members ofthe frame- `like spring without requiring a wide spacing c of the insulating body of the slide from the front plate of the switch, ldesirably recess the forward face portions 13A of this insulating body' which are disposed respectively behind the said longitudinal spring portions example, by curvedly recessing themV as shown in Fig. 9. -I also provide each end of .the insulating slide body 13 with an extension 19 affording a forwardly directed shoulder Furthermore, I desirably form eachA longitudinal spring frame side 15 to form two consecutive V-shaped parts, thereby providing two rearwardly directed bends 21 connected by the' parts which form the forwardly directed hump 15. Such a forming of the framelilie spring permits a free and considerable flexing of each of its longitudinal sides, thereby insuring a quick snap-overaction, together with a continuous and firm rearward pressure on the insulating slide body and through the latter on the contact platewhich and at opposite sides of the stem 12, as for meat/er forms the main part of the movable conducttached to the insulator from the bottom of the latter, thus completing the assembly of the sliding member of the switch. This sliding member is then inserted in the stationary frame member (Fig. 10) of the switch from the bottom of Fig'. 10, with the stem 12 projecting through the perforation 1l. rll`hen the insulating base 5 (to which the terminal brackets have previously been riveted, so as to form the assembly shown 1n Fig. 11) is slipped upward under the sliding member un- .til the lingers 7 on the stationary switch frame extend through the perforations 6 in the base 5, after which these fingers are clinched over to clamp the base against the end shoulders 10 of the wings 8 on the stationary frame member of the switch.

ln practice, l desirably make the frontal perforation 1l only slightly wider than the stem 12, so that the longitudinal walls of this perforation will guide the stem and hence the entire sliding member. By doingi this and by making the offset rear face portion of the insulating body of a width corresponding to that of the contact plate` (as shown in Fig. 6), l hold all parts of the sliding member Y against relative movement transverse of each ture including a wall and a terminal spacedy from the wall, a movable switching member interposed between the said wall and terminal; and means associated with the stationary structure for guiding the movable switching member to permit limited reciprocating f movement of the latter; the movable switching member comprising an insulator, a contact .fitted upon one face of the insulator and movable into and out of engagement with the terminal, and a spring member fitted upon the opposite face of the insulator and continuously pressing the insulator away from the said wall, the contact member and the spring member being slidably attached to the insulator from opposite sides of the insulator.

2. An electric switch, a stationary structure including a wall and a terminal spaced from the wall, a movable switching member interposed between the said wall and terminal; and means associated with the stationary Structure for guiding the movable switching member to permit limited reciprocating movement of the latter; the movable switehing member comprising an insulator, a contact fitted upon one face of the insulator and movable into and out of engagement with the terminal, and a spring member pressing the insulator' away from the said wall, the spring ymember and the said wall having opposedhump formations adapted to ride over each other during the movement of the sliding member in each direction.

3. An electric lswitch as per claim 2, in which ythe insulator has a recess facing the hump formation on the spring member, into which recess the spring is flexed when the said hump formations ride over each other.

4. An electric switch, a stationary structure including awall and a terminal spaced from the wall, a movable switching mem/ber interposed between the. said wall and terminal; and means associated with the stationary structure for guiding the movable switching member to permit limited reciprocating movement of the latter; the movable switching member comprising an insulator, a contact fitted upon one face of the linsulator and lmovable into and out of engagement with the terminal, and a spring member fitted upon the opposite face of the insulator and continuously pressing the insulator away from the said wall, the insulator having a face'portion flush with the outer face of the Contact ,y member and disposed for engaging the contact member when the latter is out of engagement with the terminal.

5. An electric switch comprising a front plate provided with a perforation having parallel opposite edges, a base disposed behind and parallel to the front plate, means rigidly spacing the front plate from the said base; a reciprocable sliding member comprising an insulator disposed between the front plate and the said base and having a stem projecting forwardly through the perforation and laterally guided by the said perforation edges; cooperating contact members respectively mounted on the rear of the slid'- ing member and on the forward face of the said base; a spring member shdably attached to the insulator from the front of the latter f and bowed toward the front plate and continuously pressing forwardly against the rear face of the front plate to press the sliding 6. An electric switch as per claim 5, in

which the front plate has a rearwardly convexed hump and in which the spring member t has a forwardly convexed hump disposed for riding over the aforesaid during the move'- ment of the sliding member in each direction:

7. An electric switch as per claim 5, in

which the front plate has a rearwardly conl vexed hump adjacent to one of the said perforation edges, and in which the spring member comprises a frame through which the stem portion of the insulator extends, one leg of the frame having intermediate its ends a hump con-vexed toward the front plate and adapted to ride over the first named hump when the sliding member is moved with respect to the front plate lengthwise of that frame leg.

8. An electric switch as per claim 5, in which the front plate and the s pring. member have formations interengaged yduring a medial portion of the movement of the sliding member. for causing the spring member to complete such movement. I l

9. An electric switch as per claim 5, in which the spring member comprises ya frame fitted over the saidstem and having two lon- Y gitudinal frame sides extending parallel to the longitudinal edges ofthe perforation, each of these frames sides having a medial forwardly directed hump, the front plate having at each side of its said perforation a rearwardly directed hump over which one of the humps on the spring rideswhen the slide is moved longitudinally of the perforation,"

the frame having itsend sides bent rea'rwardly and respectively engaging end face' portions of the slide body.

10. An electric switch as perclaim 5, in

which the spring member comprises a framefitted over the said stem and having two longitudinal frame sides extending parallel to the longitudinal edges of the perforation, each of these frame sides ,having a medial forwardly directed hump, the front plate having at each siden of its said perforation a rearwardly directed hump over which one of 'thehumps on the spring member rides when ,y .the slide is moved longitudinally of the perforation, the slide body having its front recessed at each side of the stem .to per-mit a rearward flexing of the adjacent frame side of the spring.

11. In an electric switch, areciprocating member comprising an insulator, a contact plate mounted on the rear face of the insulator, and a frame-like spring slidably-fitted upon the insulator from the front of thelatter, the frame-like springv having thev end members of its frame respectively engaging the ends of ythe insulator and the insulator" having shoulders respectively engaged by the rear edges of the said end-members of the v spring, the said shoulders being so disposed as to hold the side members of the frame-like spring out of contact with the forward face of the insulator.

12. A sliding member for an electric switch,

as per claim 11, infwhich each side member comprising an insulator having in its rear face-a recess spaced from one end of the insulator and reaching to the other end of the insulator; and a contact member comprising a contact plate bearing iiatwise against the bbottom of the recess and corresponding in thickness to the depth of the recess, and two forwardly directedy arms at the ends of the contact plate, one of the said arms beingv .socketed in the recess andthe other bearing against the irst named end of the insulator.

14. A sliding member for an electric switch, as per claim 13, in which the contact plate has its longitudinal edges engaged by walls of the said recess to prevent movement of thev contactmember or transversely of the insulator.

115. In an electric switch, a housing structure including a front and also including two y relativelyV insulated and relatively spaced terminals presenting forward' faces behind the front, and a sliding member slidably guided by the housing struct-uref for `movement longitudinally of the sliding lmember and parallel to the frontgthe terminals being spaced longitudinally ofthe sliding member; the sliding member including an insulator disposed` between said front and both of the said terminal faces, a contact member mounted on the insulator and exposed onfthe rear face of the insulator, and a spring mounted on the insulator and continuously engaging the rear face of tbe front to press the insulator rearwardly; the sliding member,` and the housing structure having interengaging portionsl dlsposed for limiting the sliding movement of the sliding member to two extreme positions in one of which the contact member engages both of the said terminal faces, and in the other of which the contact member is out of engagement with one of the terminal faces; the said front and the spring member having continuously engaged formations for causing a rearward flexing of the spring duringthe movement of the sliding member from one of its said extreme positions toward the other and`for normally holding the said interengaged movement limiting portions of the sliding member andthe housing structure interengaged. Signed at Chicago, Illinois, December 27th, 1928.- l

' HOWARD H. OE'IJEN.

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